Gaudete! International Early Music Festival – 17th Edition

Gaudete!, early music in the mountains of Valsesia

The Gaudete! International Early Music Festival is one of the most beloved events for enthusiasts of early, Baroque, and Renaissance music in Northern Italy. Created to promote both the musical and architectural heritage of Upper Piedmont, the festival has a distinctly itinerant nature: each concert is held in a different location—churches, oratories, sanctuaries, and historical sites across Valsesia and the province of Vercelli, with excursions into neighboring provinces and regions. In 2026, the event reaches its 17th edition, confirming its status as a benchmark for music performed on period instruments.

The event in Civiasco

Among the stops on the tour, the small town of Civiasco, perched at over 700 meters above sea level among the woods of Valsesia in the province of Vercelli, hosts one of the most evocative events. On Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 6:00 PM, the Church of San Gottardo will host the concert "Les Goûts réunis," dedicated to the musical styles of early 18th-century Paris. This is the moment when French and Italian tastes blended into a new language, following the ideal theorized by François Couperin: an elegant and shifting repertoire performed by a Baroque ensemble featuring instruments such as violin, transverse flute, viola da gamba, violone, and harpsichord.

A widespread program across the territory

The 2026 edition of Gaudete! unfolds throughout spring and summer with numerous concerts distributed across various towns in Upper Piedmont. Among the announced stops, in addition to Civiasco, are:

• Albano Vercellese — the concert "Exaudi vocem meam" in the Church of Maria Vergine Assunta;
• other churches and historical sites in Valsesia and the province of Vercelli, with programs ranging from the Renaissance repertoire to Baroque and Classical works.

The artistic direction is led by Mara Colombo, while the organization is managed by the Associazione Triacamusicale, based at the Sacro Monte di Varallo, supported by the patronage of various local entities, including the Fondazione Valsesia.

Early music and heritage

More than just a concert season, Gaudete! is a cultural project that combines the rediscovery of the early repertoire with the promotion of local sites: each concert becomes an opportunity to discover churches and villages of great historical and artistic interest. In Civiasco, the intimate atmosphere of the Church of San Gottardo and the natural setting of Valsesia make the listening experience even more intense. The focus on interpretive quality, the use of period instruments, and educational outreach make the festival a reference point in the Piedmontese early music scene.